And harvey h



E. N. PHILLIPS AND H. H. DICK.

BOILER SKIMMER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 16. 191B.

Patented Oct. 14, 1919.

2 BHEETS-SHEET I. i

E. N. PHILLIPS AND II. II. DICK. BOILER SKIMMER.

' APPLICATION FILED OCT. I6. I9I8. 1,318,912. Patented 00t.14,1919.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

.m: coLuMnIA PLANnt-RAM SHI GTON. D. C-

and Illinois,

BOILERSKIMMER.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

Application filed October 16, 1918. Serial No. 258,374.

To all whom it-mag concern:

Be it known that we, EUGENE N. PHILLIPS and HARVEY H. DICK, citizens of the United States, residing, at San Antonio and; Chicage, respectivel and Cook, respectively, and States of Texas respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boiler-Skimmers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to boiler cleaners or Skimmers of the type disclosed in an ap-' plication filed by'us May 9, 1917, Serial No} 167,549, the objects of the present invention being to improve the hinge joint so that the water orscum will have freeaccess therethrough in all positions of the skimmer", to improve the mounting of't'he floats, and to increase the inlets for the scum:

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- -F-igure 1 is an elevation of the skimmer showing the position of the same within a locomotive; Fig. 2 is an end view ofthe skimmer with the ry pi e of the locomotive in section;

Fig; 3 is" a plan view of the skimmer with parts in section;

' Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevation of the skimmer;

Fig; 5 is a section through the lower hinge joint on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3; I

' Fig; 6 is a transverse section on the line 6-6'of Fig. 5. w v

The locomotive may be of any well-known type and is illustrated in a conventional dia 7 grammatical manner? only, The dry pipe 1 is supported in the steam space of the loco motive boileri in the usual or any preferred manner and upon'the said pipe we secure yokes or bridge plates 2 by means of U- shaped. clamping bolts 3, the ends of the yokes 2 being provided with sleeve members 4- to clamp and support the side tube portions'h' of the skimmer. Theside tubes 5 constitute parts of the supporting frame and their upper ends arenconnected by transverse pipes or tubes 6,'th'ese in turn being connected by a central longitudinal tube 7 disposed above the dry p1pe and equipped at HLIIdHtBI'IDGdlHLlSG' point of its length with a coupling 8 from which an outlet pipe 9 extends through-the top of thebo-iler. Above the boiler this pipe QeXtends into a'ivalve casy, in the counties of Bexar.

ing 10 and from said casing a discharge pipe 11 extends into the locomotive cab. The discharge pipe 11 enters a valve casing 12 from which a drain pipe 13 depends and a branch 14 leads from the said drain pipe and is normally open, the flow being controlled by a valve 15' disposed at the junction of the drain pipe 13 and the branch. A supplemental drain 16 is also connected to the drain'pipe 13 and is equipped with a cut-01f valve 17. Normally there is a constant flow of' scum through the pipes 11, 13 and 14 which is controlled by the valve 15 and the valves-in the casings 10 and 12. Should the scum accumulate so as to necessitate a more rapid or vigorous discharge of the same, the valve 15 is closed and the valve 17 opened, whereuponthe accumulation will be rapidly discharged through the drain pipe 16. The yokes 2 are, of course, disposed in spaced relation upon the dry pipe and they aremaintained inthis relation by connecting rods 18 which have their ends secured rigidly in the yokes' at the outer sides of the bolts 3 and extend between the yokes, as clearly shown.

At the sides of the dry pipe and the yokes, we dispose skimmer pipes 19 and 20 which are arranged in pairs at the two sides ofthe niechanism, as'shown most clearly in Fig. 3. The pipes 19 and 20 are each provided with slots or openings-21 in their sides to permit the scum collecting upon thesurface of the Water to-enter the skimmer pipes and a float 22 is disposed between the of each pair of at the surface of the water. are connected at their ends by 28 with the collars or rings'24 fitted concentrically around adjacent pipe 20'and said collars 24 provide a common outlet for the pipes 19 and 20.

The pipes 19 branch tubesthe ends of the respectively The collar 24 may be formed integral with or member of the hinge joint hasa-tubular or cylindrical body upper end. of the tube 26 and communicating therewith. The tubular or cylindrical bodies 25 and 27 are connected so asrto be ca- 27 secured rigidly upon the; i Q

pable of relative rotary movement and be prevented from relative endwise movement, while at the same time furnishing a watertight joint. The lower end of the tube 26 is fitted in a radial nipple or boss 28 on a tubular casing or hub 29 which hub or casing fits rotatably upon the lateral hub member 30 of an elbow coupling 31 secured upon the lower end of the frame member 5. The said coupling 31 is provided with an annular shoulder 32 against which the inner edge or end of the hub 29 engages and the said hub is held rotatably upon the bearing 30 by a cap plate 33 which is threaded into the end of the bearing and fits against the outer edge or end of the hub. The bearing 30 is, of course, tubular and in'the wall of the same are provided openings 34. which may be of any preferred configuration and form a constantly open between the hollow interior of the hub or casing 29 and the bore of the elbow 31 as will be readily understood on reference to Figs. 5 and 6. The hub or casing 29 is provided with a second boss 35 disposed in angular relation to the boss 28 and adapted to receive and carry an extended counterweight 36, the counterweight being provided on its inner side with a stop lug or projection 87 adapted to impinge against the side frame member 5 in the operation of the skimmer and thereby limit the downward movement of the skimmer pipes and the float.

The float 22 is preferably a hollow cylinder having closed ends and secured to and between brackets 38 which are secured upon the ends of the inner skimmer pipes 20 im mediately adjacent the coupling tubes 23 which connect the outer and inner skimmer pipes, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. By this arrangement we are enabled to use long floats which may be very quickly assembled with the other parts of the mechanism and which will impart a high degree of buoyancy to the apparatus so that the skimmer pipes will be maintained at the level of the water in the boiler under all conditions and will not be easily submerged.

It is thought the operation of the device will be readily understood. The floats serve to normally retain the skimmer pipes at the level of the water in the boiler and the counterweights 36 serve to balance the weight of the skimmer pipes and the connecting tubes 26 so that the floats will very quickly return to the normal position after any shifting due to a change in the level of the locomotive and will also promptly respond to variations in the water level. By providing two skimmer pipes at each side of the apparatus the capacity of the device is increased and the scum more rapidly withdrawn while the skimmer pipes also serve to guard the floats against possible injury due to any tendency of the floats to sway against the sides of the supporting frame under source of communication violent agitation of the water. It will be noted particularly upon reference to Figs.

5 and 6 that the wall of the lateral bearing portion of the elbow 31 is reduced between the ends of said lateral bearing portion and, consequently, there is a continuous uninterrupted constantly open space betweenv the hub or casing 29 and the hearing so that the access of the scum and impurities to the side members 5 of the frame and outlet is free at all times and in all positions of the skimmer. The apparatus is exceedingly simple and compact in the construction and arrangement of the parts and is highly efficient in operation.

Having thus described our invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a tubular supporting frame, an outlet leading from said frame, pairs of skimmer pipes disposed at the sides of said frame, floats carried by and between the skimmer pipes of each pair, conveyer tubes leading from the skimmer pipes to frame, hinge joints between the skimmer pipes and the upper ends of the said conveyer tubes, hinge joints between said tubes and the sides of the supporting frame, and counterweights connected with said tubes.

2. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a tubular supporting frame, an outlet leading from said frame, pairs of skimmer pipes disposed at the sides of said frame, floats carried by and between the skimmer pipes of each pair, conveyer tubes leading from the skimmer pipes to the sides of the tubular supporting frame, hinge joints between the skimmer pipes and the upper ends of the said conveyer tubes, hinge joints between said tubes and the sides of thesupporting frame, and counterweights connected with said tubes, said counterweightsbeing provided with lateral stops on their inner sides to engage against the sides of the supporting frame. V

3. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a tubular supporting. frame, an outlet leading from sai frame, conveyer tubes having hinged connections with the sides of the supporting frame, pairs of skimmer pipes the pipes of each pair having common hinged connection with the upper ends of said conveyer tubes, and floats disposed between the pipes of each pair of skimmer pipes and supported by the inner of said pipes adjacent the hinge connection of the same with the upper end of the conveyer tube.

a. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a tubular supporting frame having vertically disposed side members, elbows at the lower ends of said side members having the walls of their the sides of the tubular supporting.

lateral portions reduced between the ends thereof and provided with openings therethrough, skimmer pipes, conveyer tubes having hinged connections at their upper ends with the skimmer pipes, hub members carried by the lower ends of said conveyer tubes and rotatably fitting over the lateral bearing members of the elbows, and means for retaining said hubs upon the said bearing members.

5. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a tubular frame member, an elbow at the lower end of said member having an annular exterior shoulder at the inner end of its lateral bearing member, the wall of said member being re- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the duced exteriorly between its ends and havlng openings formed therethrough, a skim- V mer pipe, a eonveyer tube having hinged connection at its upper end with the skimmer pipe, a hub carried by and communicating with the lower end of said conveyor tube and fitting rotatably around the lateral bearing member of the elbow with its inner edge against the annular shoulder on said elbow, and a cap plate secured in the end of the elbow and bearing against the outer edge of said hub.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures.

EUGENE N. PHILLIPS. [1,. s.]

HARVEY H. DICK. [L. 51.]

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

